Aftermath
by sonata-away
Summary: Never could Craig have predicted that Tweek would be the one to completely uproot all that he thought was constant in life. Tweek, on the hand, never knew he had the strength to do it. Somehow, they would have still have to coexist...or possibly reconnect. Creek.


The day by the Stark's Pond was dreary and overcast. Though the summer had brought with it warmer temperatures, the sunny days had been scarce. It was early afternoon, but the area was deserted, most likely due to the current threat of rain. For Craig Tucker and his video camera, however, the day was perfect. It was also a windier day than usual for South Park, making it chilly enough for a light jacket and creating a constant sway among the foliage. The sky was equally turbulent, pushing the grey clouds into all sorts of interesting shapes and giving them a somewhat ominous appearance. For Craig, this made them deal to film. Though he was unsure of how exactly he was going to use the footage, he had filming for about an hour now, and there was no way he was going to waste what he had captured. He would find a way to incorporate it into a larger project later. For now, he was just going to absorb the natural beauty of the area and use it to escape the current disarray of his current situation.

Not a whole lot had changed about Stark Pond over the years, as least none that Craig noticed in the past 23 years of his life. The town had added a few new picnic tables and a snack bar, but it still maintained its calm, natural ambiance. Craig had made many memories by the small body of water, most of which he was currently trying to block out. It was the nature, as well as the potential to catch some wildlife on film that brought him here today. The footage could get him work, and work would get him out of South Park forever. Then, he would never have to face any of these memories again. Sighing, Craig pressed the stop button. That was enough footage of the sky for one day. Turning, he surveyed the rest of the landscape.

With most of the snow melted, it was also significantly more colorful. Wildflowers planted by the local grade school children were in full bloom, decorating the banks of the water. Craig decided that would be his next stop. However, before he could move on to his next session meditative filming, a familiar, nasally voice interrupted him

"Duuuuude! Is that Craig?" It was Clyde.

Craig had not physically seen Clyde since December, when he was home on winter break from graduate school. Since then, they had exchanged an occasional text or e-mail but overall, contact had been scarce. In this moment, he was both annoyed and relieved to see his old friend. Annoyed because he had left his apartment specifically for some alone time, but relieved to see a friendly face. Seeing Clyde shuffling towards him with his familiar, goofy grin was also effective in warming Craig to his friend's presence. It didn't seem like he had changed that much either. The tiniest smile pulled at the corners of his mouth as he gave a small wave, "Hey."

"Hey? Is that all? I haven't seen you in forever, man!" Attempting to work around Craig's camera, Clyde greeted him with a clumsy side-hug. "How have you been?"

"I'm alright...definitely been better but...alright."

"I've been trying to reach you, man, wanted to let you know I was back in town so we could hang like old times. What gives?"

"Uhhh." Craig had never been good at thinking on his feet, "I haven't had it on in awhile." He would just have to be as vague as possible. He had hoped that Clyde would have been more interested in talking about himself. Now, he wasn't so sure.

"Okay then…" Clyde was just beginning to pick up on the fact that this reunion was not going to be as lighthearted as he had originally intended. Still, he continued, "Well, what are you doing out here anyway? It's seriously about to rain."

"Filming. Getting some stuff together for a new project." Craig needed to steer the conversation away from himself. He was beginning to question how much he wanted to talk to his old friend after all, not that he wouldn't eventually want to talk to Clyde, but he needed the time to himself. Still, he figure he could try and humor him for at least a little while. "So...you out here for any particular reason? Last I remember, you weren't that big a fan of the great outdoors."

Clyde pointed excitedly to the snack bar. "I wanted to check out the new snack bar. I had no idea they had built one! My dad told be they served some of the best funnel cake in town. You down for checking it out?"

_You mean the only funnel cake in town_, Craig thought. He was unsure. A visit with Clyde might take his mind off of things and pull hm out his self-imposed isolation. At the same time, he was not sure that he was ready to divulge too much of his personal life and talking to Clyde for too would probably lead to just that. Pretending to be occupied with his viewfinder, he replied,"You know, that sounds great and all, but I think it's closed."

Clyde looked at him, puzzled. "But I just saw one of the workers restocking some ice cream"

Craig had no response to that. It had been a lazy way to try and bypass his friend and he knew it. Shrouding his lie in mystery was getting to be too much work for him, and whenever situations began to be too much trouble, Craig was notorious for just giving up.

As he expected, Clyde picked up on his discomfort. "Hey...is everything alright, man?"

"No." Craig didn't see the point in lying.

"Something going on? Family problems? Job problems? Are things okay with Tw-"

"Things are fine with Tweek. Everything's fine." Craig was trying desperately to shut conversation down.

Clyde regarded him suspiciously, "Are you sure?"

Sensing that the topic wasn't going to be dropped as easily as he anticipated, Craig decided to not prolong the situation any further. "Tweek's gone."

Clyde's eyes widened, "Gone?!"

"Well, not gone, gone. I'm sure if you wanted to find him he would either be at home or at the coffee shop...But as for us, uh...things just weren't working out," Craig replied, averting his eyes.

"Hey...I'm uh…sorry to hear that. Shit, I thought you guys were set for life, I thought you have everything figured out." Clyde sounded genuinely sympathetic, but the conversation had become a bit too emotionally taxing for Craig.

"Well, apparently we didn't," Craig shifted uncomfortably.

"Is that why your phone's been off? Was it that bad?"

"Yeah." Craig averted his eyes, secretly wishing that he had never left the apartment this morning. "It was on for a little while the day after. He left a message, but I didn't really want to hear his voice."

"Shit, Craig. You should probably listen to it, or however many else he's left by now; or at least text him. You know he's probably freaking out right now." There was a hint of anger in Clyde's voice. "Were you the one to break it off?"

"No. I wasn't" Craig replied flatly. Maybe he would be able to talk about That Night with his friend, but now was not the time. All he wanted to do now was go home, re-watch some of his film and take a nap. He could catch up with Clyde later. "And I don't really want to talk about it right now. I don't really want to talk about anything." It came off a bit harsh, but Craig hoped that the brunette knew him well enough to not take it personally. If they talked any longer, he knew he would only grow more prickly and sarcastic, and the last thing he needed to do was stat another fight with someone he cared about.

Clyde stared at him sadly, but nodded in understanding. "Yeah, got it. Well, if you ever want to talk about it, just know that you can hit me up any time. Hey, maybe we can exchange some break-up stories." His face brightened at his new idea.

"I don't know about that..." Craig replied. Still, he appreciated how genuine Clyde sounded and tried his best to smile. "But we can definitely do something sometime soon."

Happy with the response, Clyde gave him a supportive pat on the back "Word! Well...I'm gonna go check out that snack bar and get going-; those clouds are looking pretty serious." Heading towards the picnic tables, he waved goodbye. "And be sure to take care of yourself. I know changes aren't really your thing, but you're gonna get through this!"

Ignoring the last part of Clyde's statement, Craig looked to the sky. The other had not exaggerated; the clouds were looking very dark. Not wanting to risk getting his camera wet he decided to head back to his car. Turning in the opposite direction he responded, "Yeah, I guess I will. Anyhow, I'll be sure to be in touch."

Now almost halfway across the park, Clyde called back, "Gotcha! Oh, and make sure to turn on your damn cell phone!"

* * *

Craig pulled into the parking lot of their apartment building just as the first drops of rain began to hit the ground. As he steered towards his regular parking spot, he was surprised to find that it was currently occupied. There were not many free parking spaces in the lot, as the building was nearly full to capacity. Craig would have to park on the street and walk quite a ways in the rain. Now he was irritated. Inhaling sharply, he made an aggressive U-turn and drove back towards the street.

It was raining steadily as Craig was parking. Now, he would he have to park in the street. And not only that, he would have to parallel park as well, a task he had always hated. Is seemed like his day was only going to get harder. But he wasn't going to suffer alone- the parking space thief would definitely be hearing from him. When he finished parking he went straight for the glove compartment and rummaged around until he found a left sheet of paper- the remains of an old menu for a Chinese restaurant that had closed last year. Flipping it over to the blank side, Craig angrily wrote, 'the spaces in the parking lot are for renters ONLY- ASSHOLE.' Hopefully, it wouldn't get too soggy in the rain, and who ever owned the car would know exactly how much Craig thought they sucked without ever knowing it was Craig. Feeling a bit more satisfied, Craig unbuckled his seat belt and exited the car.

As he approached the vehicle, he noticed a familiar bumper sticker on the rear windshield. It was a simple graphic of a cup of steaming coffee. Craig froze. He didn't even need to read the catch phrase to know exactly who the car's owner was. It was beginning to look like he would be having a number of surprise encounters today. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He muttered to himself as he headed straight for the building. He was less concerned with the car now, and much more concerned with its driver.

The door to the apartment was unlocked just as he expected, and he made sure to swing the door open as loudly as possible as he entered the room. He was greeted by a familiar yell of surprise, again, just as he expected. It was the brief flash of disheveled, blond hair that he saw first as he turned the corner. He dropped his camera on the table, making sure that it made a noticeable noise and watched as the other continued to scurry frantically around the living room. He took a small a satisfaction in knowing that he had successfully startled his ex, it served him right for try to sneak into his apartment without him there. "I hope you know how lucky you are that I recognized the car in the parking lot and didn't think you were some robber. Seriously, Tweek what the fuck?"

This will only take t-twenty minutes! Tops!" Tweek's eyes were wide as he motioned towards a couple of partially full trash bags in off to the side. "I TRIED to call you! I even tried the land line! Then I figured you were ignoring me, or maybe you were -_gah_- dead! But I needed the rest of my clothes! I w-wanted to let you know beforehand, but you weren't responding!"

Craig let out an exasperated sigh. "Whatever. Just...hurry up."

They stood there silently for and awkward period of time before Craig took a seat on the couch made a beeline for their old bedroom. Craig soon began to regret his current choice of seat. Not only was he completely visible, but he had nothing to appear occupied by. The newspaper was on the table near the kitchen, their books were in the bedroom and his camcorder was on the table. However, he didn't plan to move any more than was necessary. He had never enjoyed dealing with tense, emotionally overwrought situations such as this one and if he had known that Tweek was going to be invade what he now considered his living space, he would have just stayed at the pond. But now, he was trapped and he was going to try to be as invisible as possible, even if that meant he would have to sit silently on the couch as his ex-boyfriend gathered made trips in and out of their old bedroom.

At the very least, Tweek did not seem to be enjoying the process anymore than Craig. With every trip, he seemed to take a little bit longer to reappear and when he did, he would walk as quickly and with as little eye contact as he could manage. Occasionally, Craig could hear him prattling away to himself in the other room, probably searching for his belongings as quickly as possible so he could leave. Whatever. Served him right. Knowing he was as uncomfortable, if not more uncomfortable with the situation gave Craig some relief and satisfaction.

Obviously taking longer than he originally expected, Tweek exited the bedroom with less fervor than before. Craig could just make out the nervous quiver of his hands as he addressed him for what felt like the first time in hours. "S-so…you were -_guh_- out and about today?"

"Just filming." Craig replied flatly. He still was still undecided as to whether he wanted to be angry or nonchalant with Tweek. He really hated being surprised.

"That's...that's great." Tweek tugged at his shirt, twitching. He stood there for a few seconds, as if he were trying to think of something else to say, only to quickly retreat back into the bedroom.

The reaction made up Craig's previous indecision about his attitude. "Ok, fine," He raised his voice slightly, "Don't talk to me then. I'll just sit here, on the couch." Tweek had always been good at picking up on Craig's mood through his tone rather than his words. It was a trait that Craig had grown to cherish. In this moment, however, he was using against him.

"I said I would be out of here in t-twenty minutes!" Tweek yelled as he scrambled to shove more clothes into his bags. "Besides, I have a -_gah_- appointment I need to get to later on, and I c-can't be late for that!"

"Oh, what, another therapy appointment? New prescription?" Craig said, this time with a bit more animosity.

"NO! It's n-not therapy!" Tweek squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to maintain his composure. "And I d-don't want to argue with you now, Craig! This is h-hard enough as it is!"

Craig would have to give him that. Though he was currently ignoring the feeling, he felt almost proud of Tweek for coming to the apartment on his own. He had expected the blond to at least bring his mother with him, or some other family member for social support or to mediate. Ignoring the pang of longing in his chest, Craig intended to keep the argument going. "Well, then maybe you shouldn't try to engage in small talk with the person you're trying to avoid. Maybe this would have been more comfortable if you had given that person some sort of warning that you were coming to ambush him, or that you were going to suddenly decide to move out of the apartment that the two of you shared for over a year together."

The look on Tweek's face went from worried to irate. "That's N-NOT what happened and you know it!" He turned to go back into the bedroom for more clothes, but continued to yell at Craig from behind the wall. "If I remember correctly, it was YOU who started everything when you called me 'completely incompetent and unprepared for life' just b-because I burned some rice at dinner that night!"

"First of all, that was intended to be more of an observation." Craig pulled his phone out of his pocket and pretended to be reading it as Tweek looked on, now somewhat confused.

"And second of all," Craig continued, "I was having a bad day. I've been having a few of those. You know, it's hard to network for film careers in a no-name town located in the middle of nowhere. And I figured you would have been sympathetic to all of that, but no, you've always been too busy worried about getting poisoned by genetically modified food and possible alien invasion." Even though his phone was still turned off, it was better than having to look Tweek in the eye at this moment.

"Can you even hear yourself? You're m-miserable!" Tweek sounded angry now. "I didn't c-come here to get mad at you again, but that's j-just what you seem to want, right? So I can be the one to look crazy, and you like the calm and collected one. W-well, that's -_gah_- not going to happen this time!"

"Whatever, Tweek. You just keep packing then." Craig replied, absentminded as he traced the stitching patterns on the couch. He could only stare at the blank screen of his phone so long.

" And now you're just going to act like nothing happened!" Tweek tugged at his hair, an action that let Craig know that he had gotten to him. The jittery blond had been trying to put an end to that habit for years and only returned to in high moments of of stress. Still, he continued talking, "And that's how you had been acting for the past month but whenever I asked you about it, you n-never -_gah_- SAID anything!"

"Well, I didn't want to stress you out." It wasn't a lie. Craig didn't enjoy seeing Tweek stressed. He had been good at calming him down in grade school, but as they grew older, and Tweek's worries became more complex and realistic, Craig had only felt more helpless in dealing with the other's outbursts.

However, his response this time only made Tweek continue on his tirade. "Stress me out?! Try being emotionally stone-walled for a two months by somewhat you really care about and waking up everyday unsure of what they were really thinking, or if they secretly hated you! If alleviating stress was what you were trying to do, you did a r-really shitty job."

Craig opened his mouth to respond, but the blond wasn't finished. "That argument you started? That told me all I needed to know. You weren't happy and I can't be around someone who's just a constant source of anxiety and misery for me r-right now! I don't even know why you're so m-mad at me right now. I left! I'm not trapping you in South Park anymore, you can move on to some big city now or overseas or wherever you were yelling about going! I don't care, I just don't need you stressing me out right now!" Tweek ended his speech by slamming the door of suitcase shut.

"Whatever. I'm not miserable." Craig shoved his phone back into his pocket. So maybe Tweek had won that round. Briefly, he considered making another jab at the blond, but at the same time, he wanted to think of something to say that would make Tweek change his mind. It was true, the monotony of their life in the past few months had been getting to him, something that to him, as someone who prided himself on routine, had been an unsettling realization. However, Craig had never been good at expressing his feelings right as he felt them. He spent time stewing in them until they became uncontainable. He had channeled all of his frustration to their decision to move back to South Park after college, a decision he had made more for Tweek than himself and had been recently questioning. He had started the fight that night expecting it to end with them going to be bed angry at each other and eventually moving past it. He had not expected to say all the things he had said, and he had not expected Tweek to actually do anything about it. Now, he was floundering in uncharted territory and all he wanted was for their old routine to somehow be restored. He didn't care if he had been unhappy before, in this moment, he wanted just wanted to feel the safety of stability again.

During his moment of reflection, Tweek had finished his packing. At first Craig thought he would just leave, but his expression told him otherwise. He still had something to say. Still hesitant to begin any sort of conversation again, he made some unnecessary adjustments to his bags. When he ran out of ways to seem occupied to looked towards the couch. "H-hey, Craig?"

"What, Tweek?"

"I, uh, I can still pay m-my portion of the rent for next month, s-so you can have time to find a new place or roommate…" His voice trailed off, unsure of how the other was going to respond.

"No." Craig felt his stubborn side coming out. He wasn't quite ready to give Tweek the upper hand in the conversation even though he wouldn't have minded the extra money. That Tweek had apparently planned this out more thoroughly than he had thought brought back the same frustrating combination of irritation and admiration. Besides his brief outburst, Tweek had been handling himself a lot better than Craig had expected, and made him regret provoking him. Why hadn't he shown this much spark when they were together? Or had Craig just not taken the time to see it?

Not wanting to pry further, Tweek only gave a small nod. "Oh...uh, okay then, s-suit yourself...I guess I'll uh, be heading out now." With that, he began to pull his two suitcases towards the door.

"Wait." So that was it? Craig wasn't sure what he had been expecting to result from their abrupt and somewhat confrontational meeting, but he had not expected it to be so anticlimactic. Usually these types of situations ended with at least one unexpected moment happening. So that's why Craig chose to continue to the conversation. He hoped he didn't sound too desperate as he got up from the sofa. He walked over to a now puzzled Tweek, motioning towards his bags. "I can, uh..help you with those if you want. Those steps can be bitch sometimes." He ended with an awkward laugh.

A small smile found it's way on Tweek's face as and for a second causing Craig to feel that familiar nervous sensation in his stomach. Just like when they had first started dating all those years ago. Tweek was remembering too. Maybe he would he would have a change of heart and tell Craig he was just joking and start moving his stuff back into the apartment. If Tweek had been remembering anything, he certainly wasn't showing it. Instead, he continued to pull both of his bags on his own. "It's okay. The steps are only a bitch w-when you're climbing them. I think I'll be okay g-going down."

Craig still wasn't convinced. Tweek had three flights to descend with two bulky suitcases. Add to that his constant twitching and current time constraints and future disaster seemed inevitable. However, he decided to hold back. Still, he wasn't quite ready to end their exchange. "Well, um… just so you know, you can, uh, keep in touch." He cursed inwardly at how awkward he sounded.

"I think I c-can do that. Only if you promise to have your phone on n-next time!" There was a more cheerful tone in Tweek's voice as he made his way down the steps.

"Turning it on right now." Craig gestured towards his pocket, deliberately exaggerating his movements in attempt to keep the mood light.

Tweek chuckled in response; a failed attempt to distract from the hint of sadness in his voice. "Whatever you -_gah_- say. S-see you around then, Craig."

"See you around," Craig replied as watched him until he disappeared to the next flight of steps. When he lost sight of Tweek there, he returned to the apartment only to watch him clumsily pushing his bag into the back of his car. So he had made it out of the building without setting off any fire alarms or breaking any bones after all. He was doing pretty well, and he left just like he said he would. Feeling somewhat defeated, Craig returned to his place on the couch and closed his eyes, attempting to come to terms with the situation. Maybe Tweek didn't need him as much as he thought he did.

If someone had told that to Craig two weeks earlier he would have flipped the person off. Of course they needed each other. Craig couldn't recall one significant hardship in his life that Tweek hadn't been there for and vice versa. He had never been more connected to somebody in his life. It had been more than just knowing the his favorite type of coffee or what he liked to do on a rainy day. Craig had come to know and love every part of the other man's body. He knew his mannerisms and he could pick up on the smallest mood change through his body language. He would miss waking up to find the blond attempting to cook breakfast in the kitchen or reading one of his many books on the sofa. He had shared countless intimate moments with Tweek and now, if he wanted to, they could continue on as no more than strangers. Never could Craig have predicted that Tweek would be the one to completely uproot all that he thought was constant and never could he have predicted that he would be the one to push Tweek to do it. Somehow, life would have to continue. But right now, Craig felt that if he kept his eyes closed long enough he could return to that time when he they thought they had their life completely in order. And maybe there was still time to go back. _Maybe._

* * *

**A/N**

This will be the only note I add! I know this probably seems more like the end of a story, but it's actually just beginning! I'm still working through some things, but I do actually have a plan for this. I know it doesn't seem very Creek right now, but that's what I was going for. First chapters for me are always a bit choppy, so apologies in advance for any typos.

Anyhow, let me know what you think if it's not too much trouble!


End file.
